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Australia has been ranked as Islamic State's (IS) third-top target among Western countries in a report from an influential Congressional committee in the United States.
Key points:
- Australia ties with Britain, behind USA and France
- Report from US Homeland Security committee is based on ISIS-linked terror plots
- Government calling for lows allowing convicted terrorists to be kept in jail beyond term of sentence
The ranking — determined by the number of IS-linked plots per country — put Australia behind USA and France, tying with the UK on eight attacks.
The attacks were among 101 incidents identified as being linked to IS since 2014.
Justice Minister Michael Keenan said the report was not surprising.
Speaking to reporters in Adelaide, Mr Keenan said that it "confirms what we already know".
"We know that ISIL has been targeting Australia for some time and we've been very aware of the challenges that that poses," he said.
"They target us because they hate our lifestyle… we obviously won't succumb to that sort of pressure."
Mr Keenan said there was "no country better prepared to deal with the threat of global terrorism than Australia", citing $2.5 billion in expenditure to tackle the deteriorating national security situation.
'Threat still there' for Australia
His colleague, Coalition frontbencher Peter Dutton, said "the threat's still there".
"The AFP and ASIO and other agencies have foiled nine terrorist attacks and there are plenty more in the making," Mr Dutton told 2GB.
"We need to make sure that we recognise that threat."
Mr Dutton also used the report to talk about the Coalition's "great initiative" to detain some terrorists indefinitely.
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull last month spoke on the need to beef up Australia's counter-terrorism laws, calling on state and territory governments to introduce new laws allowing for convicted terrorists to be kept in jail once their sentences have finished, if the Government believes they continue to pose a threat.
Mr Dutton said today that the rules would be similar to those already in place for paedophiles in Queensland.
"If they remain radicalised, as we know they are, we know that they're absolutely determined to kill Australians," he said.
The report from the US Homeland Security committee said IS-linked attacks were "getting deadlier and more destructive".
It also listed the average age of terror suspects as 26 — with 80 per cent aged under 30 — and said 89 per cent were male.
Topics: terrorism
First posted